Jack's Rants 8/17/08

1.GSP/Penn II- After a dominating victory over Jon Fitch last Saturday, Pierre enabled the "super-fight" rematch between BJ Penn and himself, to happen appropriately. With that said, this puts the titles of each mans' respected division in limbo. I am not all, against this fight, and will be just as excited all the way up to the fight. But, Florian was "supposedly" going to be next, He's already claimed he is ready to fight again, before he get's the shot. With Sherk and Tyson fighting, if Tyson wins, he'll be primed for a no.1 contender matchup. And who will Florian fight to stay in the mix while he waits to see what happens with Penn and Pierre. WW, the same. Alves, after destroying Karo, and then taking it to Hughes, he was said to be next, after Fitch. Ok, well Fitch is gone, now it's his turn, right? Wrong. Thiago, like any other "champion" fighter, wants to fight the best, to be the best. Now, he's set to fight Diego, and that's no give me, nor a sure shot. I have that much more, respect for Alves for not only continuing, but increasing his challenges in regards to choice of opponents. But, if he loses, then he falls back, and has to do it again. We'll see how much he has then. In the next two, three months, we will get a clear picture of what should happen. I have Alves by 2nd round KO/TKO, and Sherk winning a decision. George said he wants a break now, so if he follows through with the Penn rematch in Dec. I expect him to take one after that in early '09,which means more waiting for Alves. Florian says he's going to fight again by years end, so him and Frankie Edgar, would be a scrap. He'd win, and I'm sure Penn won't be ready to defend until Spring '09. But, I have GSP in a 5round fight, Penn in a 3round war.

2.UFC's LHW picture?-Forrest is chilling. He get's to sit and watch, as a good number of his potential opponents are fighting in the next 2,3 months. Liddell will KO Rashad next month. The Machida/Silva fight is a very, interesting story. If Thiago pulls it out, then he expects to be given a title shot. Both fighters are undefeated. I don't believe they have the competition on their records like Wandy, Liddell, Rampage, or Shogun. But they are doing, and showing everytime they are put in there, and that means something. Now, Soko over Cane, Vera over Jardine. The rumored UFC 91 main event between Wand and Jackson is a big deal, it terms of who is in the title mix, and who isn't. Some think Jackson needs a few wins before he gets back. I don't agree soo much, I mean the man lost, was robbed of a close decision. If he beats Silva, then he needs to be in the fight that decides the next challenger. Now, Liddell vs. Griffin in Dec. Jan, would be the scenario, I got Machida over Silva, and I'm leaning towards a Wandy win for a third time, against Rampage. Going into '09, I have Liddell the champ, Silva or Machida, more Lyoto, as no.1 contender. Now, Thiago, Rashad, Soko, Vera, Rampage, Shogun will be a nice chance to make some great fights up. When you throw in Hamill, Jardine, Bonnar, Irvin, etc. you have alot of spoilers as well. It looks like the only way to stay on top, is to keep fighting and winning, as if there was no title.

3.UFC 91-For a good while, I've been waiting to see what they were planning for this card. I heard Portland, Phoenix, and Cali. as the locations. But no word on the card. I read that the UFC is setting up another rematch between former champ Rampage Jackson, and former Pride champion Wanderlei Silva. They fought in Pride twice, both ending by brutal KO/TKO's by the same victor. Now, what does Silva have to gain really, by fighting Jackson without Quinton being the champ? I seen an interview where Silva said after Chuck, he wanted who beat Chuck. Jardine, first. 40 seconds later, it's Jackson next?! I believe he wanted to fight Jackson in the octagon, but for the title. This guy is just plain and simple, a fighter. He wants to go in there and "murder" his opposition. And if he does lose, I don't think it will change any opinion of him or his career. If this fight does materialize, I'll be front and center and cheering for my man Wand. Take it to the "chump" as he referred to Rampage when he came to the UFC, again.

4.I'm going to rant on myself, for not raving either! If I got the time to rant about the bad, more frustrating aspects of mma, then I should just as well be raving towards it too. So, from here on, look forward to the Jack's Raves coming on here shortly...

Until next session, Rant on-The Hammer

fullerene

8/17/08 2:16:27PM

Nice rant.

One thing I'll disagree with is that Silva has nothing to gain by beating Jackson. Silva has fought three of the UFC's most recent and famous LHW champions--Belfort-, Ortiz and Liddell--and he's lost to all of them. Despite his many great victories in Japan, this (and perhaps wins over Jardine and Pattera) are all many U.S. fans know of him. Rampage is an elite fighter, an American fighter, a well-known fighter and a guy who was very close to still being the UFC champ. He's also a guy that Silva knows he has a chance to beat. A victory oer him is beneficial to Silva's reputation with American fans.

JackHammerXXX

8/17/08 2:57:16PM

I meant it more like...he had more to lose, than he has to gain, I guess. But, I agree he is not as famous as I think, here in the states. Anybody that knows mma, knows who he is. Rampage, true, has become an "American sensation" in the hearts of mma fans, here and abroad. But that's just it, he 'was' that over in Japan, when they fought. And it ended up really bad, for Jackson twice. Silva could fight Rampage in Nov. and lose, even worse, get knocked out and his career could be questioned, again quite possibly. Now, I know people don't know, or it's not that relevant what happend over in Japan, but I do. Jackson got his, then he came back and got it worse. Silva is only gaining because he is beating the ex champ, who's coming off a mental/physical breakdown. Rampage always claimed it would be alot different over here, where they "test" the fighters routinely, and it was in an octagon...So that will be an interesting and entertaining storyline in the fight hyping.

All in all, I'd of much rather seen him fight Shogun again, He only destroyed him once, so far...